[WATCH] CHOGM’s first women’s forum ‘a pioneering step’

CHOGM’s first women’s forum ‘a pioneering step’

Malta’s decision to host the first women’s forum ever held during a Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) was welcomed by Kamalesh Sharma as “a pioneering step”.

“We never had a women’s forum before … this is a pioneering step and the heads are going to welcome it and every head I have spoken to [while in New York] is going to be there,” the secretary general of the Commonwealth said.

Meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Sharma and Muscat discussed November’s CHOGM, with particular reference to climate change, equality and trade.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his wife Michelle together with US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the UN General Assembly in New York

This year’s CHOGM will serve as a platform for women's organisations from various countries to place their concerns and observations high on the summit's agenda.

A number of Commonwealth countries have poor records on women’s rights and issues. Muscat insisted that it was time for CHOGM to start addressing them.

“I am extremely optimistic about the meeting and I have no doubt that it will be a watershed meeting,” Sharma said, pointing to the planned discussions on trade, climate change, trade, making centres of excellence out of small states and cooperation.

Sharma added that the discussions on climate change will show that the Commonwealth was “a more ambitious and productive organisation”.

The discussion on climate change, at the heart of this year’s CHOGM, will also see the participation of United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon. Commonwealth countries are expected to come up with a document on climate change and present it with immediate effect ahead of the COP21 summit in Paris.

The Commonwealth heads of government will discuss migration, radicalization in the world and extremism. Sharma said they will also discuss how multilateral processes can serve the purpose of equity, fairness and balance.